Borderlands AU (Part 3): Memory
by Lostopium
Summary: Some memories come back to Wilhelm and then he start struggling with himself about some feelings... towards Timothy


Patience was not really the first quality of Wilhelm; in fact he didn't have any patience at all. However, with Jack, he learned to act when it was asked and to entertain himself, by different ways, when time seemed too long.  
As Timothy worked at his desk finishing the right leg for his friend, the cyborg passed the time feeding the overgrown kraggon. Slowly he tore the pages off a magazine, occasionally scanning the pages before he would crumble it into a boll and toss it to the stone face. From time to time, he made the animal believe that he had thrown the ball of paper and was amused to see it running around in circles, looking for its treat. Finally he would give in, calling the creature's name with a little smile to give it the crumpled page.

It been already 47 days since the new left arm was in place and that the double worked hard on this mechanical leg. He looked so pathetic. He seemed he was about to collapse soon. Wilhelm was useless to tell him to look after him, as the redhead constantly refused to go to rest if he had not worked for at least two hours on this scraped puzzle. Finally, Timothy got up and ran a hand through his hair to bring back a lock.

"Wilh! I'll need to test this leg," he said, turning to him with a tired smile.

The cyborg put the magazine on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed. With the repetitive health care of the younger man, he has almost recovered from his injuries. He still felt some pain but nothing that cannot prevent him from moving at will; at least when he was on the bed..

The double knelt in front of him and began to install the prosthetic leg. He murmured a few repeated words from the instructions he had written down on a piece of paper just before. Wilhelm thought it was amusing to see him so concentrated on his thigh. In addition, his thinner fingers on his skin were not unpleasant. He was touching him very carefully, as if he was afraid of hurting him. That reminded him when the double had once healed his wounds when they were on Elpis.

"Could you try to move it?" gently asked the redheaded.

The enforcer nodded and tried to unfold the knee. However, the movement was too abrupt. Timothy almost took a hit in his face, but fortunately, he had moved away on time.

"There's something wrong," pointed out the older man.

Timothy moaned as he rubbed his face, "Shit, how'd I mess this up again? I must go try calling Scooter for help again." Exhausted, he rested his forehead against the thigh of his protégé. "Or I'll ask Axton, he said he would come tomorrow ..."

"The Vault Hunter?" asked a grunting Wilhelm.

"Yep, one of the vault hunters himself. I know he has some slight knowledge in mechanics, maybe he could help me solve this problem."

"I can help too, you know?"

"Wilh…" he sighed, "We already talked about this!"

"Yeah and what? What is he coming over for exactly?"

Timothy looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. Wilhelm knew that the Vault hunter had already paid a few evenings with the double, but surprisingly, the more he saw him turning around his host, the more he felt his blood boiling. After all, Axton was one of the Vault Hunters that had taken part in mutilating Wilhelm, so he had many reasons to hate him.

"He is a good guy" reassured the redheaded, seeing the scowling face of the other man. "He's nice, affectionate, he always pays more than what I ask and he takes care of me. You don't need to be worried. He's not going to hurt me."

The cyborg grunted again. "So… You like him?"

This question first surprised Timothy, but then he giggled. He put his cheek against the thigh still tied to the prosthetic leg, and looked up again at the enforcer. "Are you going to explode in a fit of jealousy?" he asked with a mischievous smile.

Wilhelm blushed really quickly. Not only because he got caught red-handed but also because the expression on the disfigured face was terribly appealing. Not to mention that the head of the redheaded was dangerously close to a still sensitive part of his body. Then he was taken aback by a new laugh.

"Okay, don't put yourself into such a state, I was joking" he said as he started to detach the prosthetic carefully. "It's crazy, though! After all this time, you haven't lost much of your muscle mass…that's impressive!"

"Wha…? Are…are you saying that you find me to be too old now!?" grumbled the other, still flustered.

"That's not what I'm saying, it's just that…you still look great. Just like before. Even without your legs." He offered him a genuine smile. "No worries, old cyborg, you are older than before but you are still super attractive!"

The 'old cyborg' tried to keep calm. Attractive? Him? It was not really something he was used to hearing. His face softened as he watched the double before got lost in his thoughts. After becoming a killing machine for Jack, Wilhelm had somehow put aside his memories of Elpis. He had not forgotten it, but he had rather ignored it. Sort of placed it in back furthest part of his memories. But now, he could remember campfires with the whole team. He recalled watching the bond grow between Athena and Janey, observing shooting stars with Aurelia, the Stingray race with Nisha, and hell he even remembered the really annoying robot Claptrap and would admit cracking jokes with him. Most of all he remembered the face of Timothy as he slept against him. He had learned to appreciate this kid who had nothing to do in this adventure and who, nevertheless, did everything to not be a burden. 

One day, in the middle of a bandit camp, he had to take shelter after being badly shot in the shoulder. The double had joined him, panicked and tried to help him. He remembered that the boy had raised his head towards him to ask if everything was fine, but his face was incredibly close to his. They had looked at each other for a long time, in silence, slowly closing the space between their lips as if they were magnetized. Timothy had gently whispered 'Jack will not like it', but the stubborn cyborg had silenced him with a passionate kiss.

Wilhelm shivered at this memory. "How could I deny that," he muttered to himself.

"Huh?" Asked the double as he returned to his desk to tend to the leg. "Did you say anything?"

"Uh ... no, no, just ... I was remembering out time at Elpis."

"Oh! Really?" Timothy came back and sat on the bed right next to him. "Did you forget a lot from this adventure?"

"I think yes. I never got the idea of thinking back about all of that. I'm always more focused on the present. But I have some pictures coming back in my mind."

The redheaded got closer, suddenly feeling quite enthusiastic. "Oh! Like what? Tell me!"

The Enforcer stared at him with his one eye. The scar, which was digging at Timothy's skin, did not make him less charming. Moreover, he had that kind of sincere and charming smile that could cause anyone to fall for him. Luckily, his lips were not affected by Jack's madness and still probably like in his memories. He would have liked to taste it again, just to refresh his memory. He slowly bent over the double and said, "You ask too many questions, pretty boy"

"'Pretty boy'? Wow! It been a long time since you called that!"

And while Timothy giggled, flattered by recovering his old nickname, Wilhelm cursed himself inwardly. What the hell was wrong with him? Why couldn't he talk to him about his memories of the two together? It was only a futile kiss they'd vowed never talked about again, and if he wanted to kiss him again, why not just go for it? He had done well before, why not now?  
He felt the beating of his heart suddenly speeding up. Would it be possible that he had real feelings for Timothy?

"I, I remember the day you kissed me."

The cyborg froze and kept quiet.

"You kissed me and then you heard someone coming toward us so you threw me!" The double started to laugh, "You didn't even push me, no, no, you really threw me!"

"Uh, yeah…hm… Sorry about that."

"I can remember too… hm…" He stopped.

"What?"

"When you started to ignore me…" He looked down. "Do you remember? After Elpis, at first you greeted me when we crossed in the corridors. Then, nothing. You didn't even bother to look at me. I became invisible to you. It hurt me a lot. Athena and Aurélia where gone far away, Nisha didn't care about me, Jack just killed Claptrap and I couldn't see Angel often after that. You were my only friend, but then it seemed I disappeared from your memory."

This time, Wilhelm dared to do something. He wrapped his arms around him and hugged his precious friend as he quietly whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry, I'm with you now."


End file.
